Buffalo-area residents are used to snow. But accumulation of nearly two feet of the white stuff that fell in a freak Friday the 13th storm last month brought even the hardiest western New Yorkers to their knees. Leaf-laden tree branches snapped under the weight of the wet snow, severing power lines and leaving nearly 400,000 homes without electricity.

More than 20,000 were still without power more than a week after the storm. Officials speculate cleanup costs could top $30 million.

The statewide union is again lending a helping hand by making the NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund available to members who have suffered extraordinary losses.

For assistance, contact your local president or regional office or visit the NYSUT Web site at www.nysut.org.

Relief donations still needed

The Buffalo-area snowstorm underscores the imperative to donate to the NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund.

To help union members who suffered losses in the June flooding in the Susquehanna, Mohawk and Delaware river valleys - as well as the October storm in western New York - donate online at www.nysut.org or make a check payable to "NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund" and mail it to NYSUT headquarters, attn. Jeff Lockwood, Accounting Department, 800 Troy-Schenectady Road, Latham, N.Y. 12110.